Thursday, October 29, 2009

Well, I had my 31 week appointment today. After an ultrasound to check Jonathan's growth, it was determined that he is a very healthy growing boy! It is estimated that he already weighs 4 lbs 10 oz., and he is measuring 11 days bigger than his due date shows he should be. As if I wasn't stressed that he was going to be a big boy before now, I really am after hearing that news! For goodness sakes, Ross weighed 11 pounds. Eleven pounds! Now I figure that I will be delivering before I am full term, so hopefully I won't be having anywhere near an eleven pound baby. The goal right now is to make it to 36 weeks. That will be December 2, and Dr. P will be on-call then; so for now, December 2nd is the goal. From here on out, I will have a non-stress test to check for baby distress and prenatal visits every week until delivery. I could be bringing home this sweet baby boy in 5 weeks. Oh, and bed rest. He did say that he was not putting me on strict bed rest, but that I do really need to take it easy. In his words, "I don't want you out running around all day, but taking care of your kids is okay." So, I will take it easy so that I can bring home my beautiful baby boy.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

That's right folks, it's that time again. My blood pressure has been a little elevated for a couple of weeks now, but it spiked pretty high today. After seeing the on-call doctor this afternoon, monitoring the baby, and doing lab work, I was told to increase my medication and take it easy. "Take it easy" translates into bed rest. So for now it isn't strict bed rest. I just have to take it easy, laying around as much as possible...no cooking, cleaning, or shopping. Sounds like strict bed rest to me! Well, she did tell me that "if I had to" I could pick up and take the girls to school. Actually she said that realistically, complete bed rest would probably be impossible with three children. I appreciated the fact that she took that into consideration. All she kept saying was do as little as possible, call in favors from friends, have my husband help, and so forth. The husband helping isn't a problem. He is really great about helping with the kids, doing laundry, picking up the house, etc. Just so you know, as I am writing all of this my husband is reading over my shoulder (out loud I might add) in his seductive voice. No really, he is! Silly boy!! The only problem with all of this is that I am not at all prepared. When I was pregnant with Abigail, I already had the nursery done, most of the Christmas presents purchased, and all of the baby stuff done. I am not prepared at all! Nothing is done. I still have baby stuff I need. I haven't even started on Jonathan's room, and as for Christmas...well, Merry Christmas...they may be all anyone is getting. Have I mentioned that the baby bed and bassinet are still in the attic? Oh my. The good news is that she did allow me to still be a bridesmaid in my sister's wedding. I just have to sit down immediately following the ceremony and have people cater to me at the reception. Hum? How well do you think that will go with 3 little girls running around? I didn't mention to her that the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner are tomorrow night. I figure I just need to make it through this weekend and then I can really take it easy. I may just have to excuse myself and lay down and rest for a bit while dealing with the wedding and stuff, but that will be okay. I have to go instruct my children (from the couch) to start their bed time routine now. This should be interesting...

Saturday, October 17, 2009

I love the small-town qualities of Siloam Springs, but it also has it's inconveniences. A major one being that it does not have a 24 hour pharmacy. Hey, at this point I would settle for one staying open until 9 or 10 on a Saturday night. We think there is a pretty good chance Mary Grace has the flu. Well, either that or mono. Both Sarah and Blair have mono, and we are pretty sure that Coy and Daddy have it too :( . Now, there is a better chance that MG has the flu than mono so Dr. B called in Tamiflu and said to start taking it immediately. Hence the reason I wish there was a 24 hour pharmacy here. Ross is on his way to Fayetteville as we speak to pick up said Tamiflu. Here is to hoping the Tamiflu works and we don't have to worry about anything more than keeping the rest of the family healthy!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

So, it has been a while since I have blogged. Prepare yourselves, this could be a long one. Last week was our trip to Cincinnati. I didn't blog while we were there because this was this first trip since Ross and I have had kids that we didn't have to bring anyone along. I decided to spend my free time with my hubby instead of updating our blog! :) His scope went well, and by appearances nothing has changed from last time. Although appearances really mean very little; we are hoping that is a good sign, and that he has passed his beef trial. We won't know anything until his biopsy results come back in about a week.

Our time together in Cincy was wonderful. Amanda said it was our "babymoon" and really it was. Our last chance to be alone before he gets here! It was nice being able to just walk through stores and around the mall without having to keep up with little ones or push a stroller! We were able to go to a movie at 10:20 pm and then to a restaurant afterwards because it didn't matter what time we woke up the next morning. We did see a family at the movie theater that I would like to address.

The next time you want to see, and I quote, "The scariest movie of the decade" (Paranormal Activity), you should probably leave your three year old little boy at home! Not only did that movie probably give your child nightmares for days, but really? did you have to take him to the midnight movie?! Let me give you an example of what "good parents" do: If you want to take your three year old to a movie, I suggest the 3D version of Toy Story and Toy Story 2. Accompanied with popcorn, M&M's, and a bottle of water. Oh, and let me mention that for best results take your child to the matinee or at latest the 7 pm showing. This way he will be able to enjoy a horror-free film and be in bed at a reasonable hour.

Sincerely,Concerned Parents

Now that I have gotten that off my chest, let's get on with the rest of the week. We were finally able to find Jonathan's coming home outfit! It is a little blue cable knit sweater outfit with little brown suede shoes. So cute! My sweet husband literally took me to every baby store in Cincinnati in search of this outfit. We finally found it in the last store we went to. On our way home, we had decided to stop for the night in St. Louis to break up the trip a little. However, this plan quickly changed when Ross' dad called (as we were driving to St. Louis) to tell us that Ross' grandfather had passed away. Poppa was 93 years old and really lived a full life. His health had suddenly gone down hill so we knew this was coming. We just didn't realize it would be so soon. Fortunately he passed in his sleep and did not have to suffer long. All that to say, we ended up driving to Springfield, MO and arrived at 2:30 am. We slept for a few hours, got to Fayetteville about 1 pm, packed up the kids, were home for about an hour and a half and then drove to Hot Springs. The funeral was Monday morning, and by Monday evening we were finally home. So much for a relaxing trip home. We were in the car for about 20 hours over a 3 day period...I don't care if I go anywhere else until after this baby is born. My body hurts in places I didn't even know could hurt. Really, for being 7 months pregnant I did very well. Now we wait for results and go from there.

Pure and undefiled religion before our God andFather is this:to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keeponeself unstained by the world. -James 1:27

Our Family

Ross, Lisa, Mary Grace, Hannah, Abigail, and Jonathan

Our Little Blessings

Mary Grace

Hannah

Abigail

Jonathan

Eosinophil

is the least common of the white blood cells. They make up 2-4% of the white blood count. Children with eosinophilic disease have increased numbers of eosinophils in their blood, GI tract, and/or organs. Produced in the bone marrow, eosinophils then migrate to tissues throughout the body. When a foreign substance (an allergen or parasite, for example) enters the body, lymphocytes and neutrophils (other types of white blood cells) release certain substances to attract eosinophils which release toxic substances killing the invader.